02MakeTheGrade1 ExtraExamPractice2
02MakeTheGrade1 ExtraExamPractice2
02MakeTheGrade1 ExtraExamPractice2
MEET MEDi
I Hospital can be a frightening place for children who need to spend time there. For many, it may be the first time that
they have to sleep away from home. They may not like the taste of the medicines, and injections can scare them. In
addition, younger kids may not understand what is going on and why they have to be hospitalised. To solve this
problem, several hospitals in the United States are using a little blue-and-white robot called MEDi, which stands for
Medicine and Engineering Design Intelligence.
The robot has been a huge success in the hospitals that have started using it, for example, the Broward Health
II
Children’s Hospital in Florida. Dr Patricia Rowe-King, who works there, says that MEDi can be the children’s friend
and teacher. It tells them what to expect when they are getting an injection or receiving treatment. In addition, MEDi
is bilingual – it speaks English and Spanish. This is important in areas where Spanish is the main language.
However, its chief task is to make friends with the youngest patients.
For example Tommy, a four-year-old cancer patient, became close friends with MEDi in hospital. It helped to
III distract Tommy’s attention when the nurses were taking blood from him so that he did not notice the pain. Then, they
could sing, dance or play together. MEDi has facial recognition software and greets each child by his or her name.
Tommy's face lit up when the robot would call his name.
Tommy had to spend a long time in hospital receiving treatments. This was also a very demanding time for his
IV worried parents. However, thanks to MEDi, Tommy felt less frightened in hospital. Tommy’s mother said that at first
there were many bad days and they began to lose hope. “MEDi took away the fear of being here,” she said.
Dr Hector Rodriguez-Cortes, Tommy’s doctor, explained that when the robot helps the patient, it helps the hospital
V staff as well. Dr Rodriguez-Cortes said that the robot calmed the children down so that the nurses could do their
work. It seems that MEDi is good for everyone in hospital.
2 The following statements are false. Correct them according to the information given in the text.
1 All American hospitals have begun to use MEDi to help them to treat child patients.
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EXTRA EXAM PRACTICE 2